Way Better Patents maintains a list of the meanings of the acronyms as they relate to intellectual property. Here PCT means Patent Cooperation Treaty, not to be confused with percentage; Primary Care Trust (the UK National Health Service) or porphyria cutanea tarda, a form of photosensitive skin disease. AU means Art Unit in patent speak though depending on the patent domain it can also be a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal and the atomic number 79 - GOLD.
Use the list to throw around the acronyms like the rest of the patent cognoscenti or to figure out what they are taking about.
Way Better Patents has a variety of patent information tools designed to make information about patents more accessible and easier to understand. From time to time we post updates on these tools here.
